The 8th European innovation summit ‘Future now!’ was marked by an unprecedented sense of urgency requiring new innovation approaches that provide short-term, demonstrable impact and tangible benefits for EU citizens. All participants agreed on the need to improve communication between citizens and science, in order to better connect the two.

The COST-funded policy network genderSTE has been developing case studies that connect policy and practice and show the importance of gender balance in fields like science, transport and environment, all linked to the United Nations sustainable urban development goals.

High-level representatives of the COST Member States and Cooperating State, as well as from the European Commission reconfirmed their commitment to the programme at the COST Ministerial Conference in Bratislava on 22 September. The conference was held under the auspices of the Slovak EU Presidency.

Physician and New York Times correspondent Sheri Fink will be presenting her views on the ethical dilemmas that disasters raise at the final conference of Disaster Bioethics Action at Dublin City University on 3-4 October.

The Sun’s impact on our planet’s climate has recently been a hotly debated topic in the context of climate change. The controversy around this issue has led scientists across Europe to dig deeper into the claim that solar activity could be a major cause of global warming.